Me Too
by AstaLaila
Summary: Lorelai stops off at Luke's for a little rant and recharge after Friday Night at the Gilmore's. JJ
1. Run Butch Run

" Happy Father's Day." Lorelai grumbled sarcastically, slipping onto a stool.  
  
" What?"  
  
" Why did it have to fall on a Friday?" Lorelai smacked her head down on the counter.  
  
" Why did what have to fall on a Friday?"  
  
" Father's Day."  
  
" Oh." Luke frowned and disappeared into the kitchen for a minute. Lorelai waited for him to come back out, then looked at the doorway into the kitchen quizzically. She jumped down off the stool and shuffled over.  
  
" Luke?" She leaned around the doorframe and saw him sitting on the floor with his back against the oven. " Luke?" She looked at him like he had gone nuts.  
  
" You're still here?" He sighed, not opening his eyes.  
  
" Um, yeah. What part of our 20 word conversation mislead you into thinking I was leaving? I haven't griped, groaned, explained, complained, or gorged yet, so what's with the disappearing act?"  
  
" Take what you want. I'm not in the mood tonight."  
  
" But you haven't even heard what happened. Chris hijacked Rory to have dinner in Hartford with him and Sherrie and Gigi, and it was a Friday, and I didn't know about Rory's little dinner plans, so I already told my mother that I would be there for dinner tonight. One whole Friday night alone with my parents. I'm about ready to throw myself into a snowblower."  
  
" Must be rough. Can this wait until tomorrow?" Luke sighed.  
  
" What's up with you today? Your tail was all out of joint at breakfast, but I figured that was because I asked for chocolate chips in my omelet. So what's bothering you now Senor Moody Man?"  
  
" Lorelai, I don't want to talk about it."  
  
" But you completely blew off our damage report date! I always come in on Fridays for the blow by blow."  
  
" Look, Lorelai, I know your relationship with your parents is hard sometimes, but sometimes you might want to just be happy that they're there." Luke said a little more harshly then he intended to.  
  
" Oh...."  
  
" Look, never mind, I'm just having a bad day is all. I hate today."  
  
" Today day of the month, or today Father's Day?" Lorelai asked quietly. Luke looked down at his hands in front of him. Lorelai took that as a yes and slid down beside him. She poked her head next to him, moving it around and trying to catch his gaze. " You know you never told me much about your dad. Sometimes I find talking helps."  
  
" So what, you're depressed all the time?"  
  
" See! A joke! I'm helping already. Come on......come on......share your troubles my friend. Lean on me. When you're not strong. I'll be your friend. I will help you carry on. For.-"  
  
" Lorelai. If you don't stop, I will physically throw you from the diner."  
  
" Sorry. I'll lean on you then." Lorelai leaned against Luke's side, nudging at him. " So?"  
  
" So what?"  
  
" So what do you want to tell me about him?"  
  
" Not much to tell."  
  
" Come on Luke, he's your Dad. No amusing anecdotes? Embarrassing baby stories? Awkward tales of teen angst?"  
  
" Nope."  
  
" Alright then, you hard-to-crack nut...Why don't you tell me something about the two of you then?  
  
" Like what?"  
  
" Like why do you keep ever thing the same?"  
  
" He...He died in a hospital." Luke took a deep breath and looked up at Lorelai, trying to figure out what exactly he had wanted to say to her. He had hidden on purpose. He wanted to talk, to tell someone, but he couldn't just be like a normal person and come out and say it. He knew that if he hid, she would come and find him and poke and prod until he finally got the guts up to say something. He started off talking slowly, but soon he was at full on rant. "All he wanted to do was die in his home, where he was comfortable. But I made him stay. I thought that maybe by keeping him there I could keep him from dying. If he couldn't die where he wanted to, he wouldn't die at all. He was stubborn like that. And I knew this wasn't going to work the same way. He couldn't stop this this time. He knew it, I knew it. I made him miserable for the last days of his life to make it easier on me. Making myself ignore what was happening. I can't believe I was so selfish. The least I could do after that is keep the place he loved for him, not be selfish and do whatever the hell I felt like with it."  
  
" It's not selfish Luke." Lorelai looked at him sadly. He had felt guilty ever since his dad had died. " It was hard for you too. How old were you?"  
  
" Eighteen, nineteen." He shrugged.  
  
" Really? That young?" Luke nodded, leaning back against the oven and staring at his feet. " Where was Liz?"  
  
" She left, after the funeral. Found New York, found Jimmy, had Jess, called me whenever she got into trouble. I was too busy to care. I was opening the diner." Lorelai knew he was lying, and he did too. He had spent night after night awake after she left, worrying. Lorelai looked at him calculatingly and thought about him opening up the diner when he was just barely out of high school.  
  
"Was there ever anything else you wanted to do?" She asked curiously.  
  
" Anything else what?" Luke mumbled.  
  
" Go to school? Learn to play water polo? Fly commercial airliners? Any other dreams?"  
  
" Yeah I guess." Luke sighed, sinking down a bit. Lorelai raised her eyebrows and looked at him expectantly.  
  
" Well?...." Luke never really told her that he had wanted anything else, or what that was. He always seemed satisfied, for the most part, with what had happened, with his life and the diner.  
  
" There's a couple."  
  
" What are they?"  
  
" There's no point. It's not like they're going to happen now. Might as well just forget them."  
  
" Come on Luke. I'll tell you one of mine. Until I got pregnant with Rory, I was going to go to L.A. and be a back up dancer in music videos."  
  
" Really?"  
  
" Honest. And trust me, I had the moves." The edges of Luke's mouth turned up a little, and she took this as a good sign. " Now you share....Pleeeease?" Luke furrowed his brows.  
  
" I wanted to run."  
  
" For President?"  
  
" For the States."  
  
" I don't follow."  
  
" I ran track in high school."  
  
" Oh right! Butch Danes." Lorelais grinned at him, but Luke frowned.  
  
" Don't call me that."  
  
" So you were that good?"  
  
" Good enough." He shrugged, but Lorelai kept pushing.  
  
" How good?"  
  
" I came third freshman year, and won State's in Junior and Senior." Luke listed off.  
  
" Wow. Impressive."  
  
" I guess. I was going to national finals at the end of my senior year."  
  
" What happened."  
  
" He died." Luke said simply, but Lorelai looked confused.  
  
" Why didn't you go?"  
  
" I had the funeral, and I had to get the diner going. I didn't have anything to live on anymore."  
  
" He would have wanted you to go. He would have been proud of you."  
  
" I don't care. I wouldn't have done anything."  
  
" You could have won, or kept going, gone to school on a scholarship-"  
  
" I'm not that smart." Luke snorted and Lorelai rolled her eyes.  
  
" Running scholarship. You could have graduated or run internationally. What did you run?"  
  
" 400, 800, 1500."  
  
" Why didn't you go Luke? Just to see, even."  
  
" I was busy."  
  
" You could have made time."  
  
" I didn't want to."  
  
" I know you did." Lorelai insisted.  
  
" Just leave me alone alright!" Luke stood up angrily and Lorelai jumped up and blocked his way as he tried to escape into the diner.  
  
" Not until you tell me why you didn't go!" Luke tried to get around her, but she dodged left and right, not letting him pass.  
  
" GET OUT OF MY WAY!" He finally pushed past her, storming into the diner, but Lorelai followed.  
  
" LUKE!" She cried plaintively. She watched him as he paced back and forth, trying to get something out.  
  
"IT...I....WHEN HE.....I WAS ANGRY OKAY? THERE, DOES THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY? LUKE DANES TELLS YOU HOW HE FELT." He glared at her for a moment, then sat down hard at one of the booths. Lorelai walked over cautiously and slipped in beside him.  
  
" Angry?" Luke looked over and sighed.  
  
" Yeah, angry. I mean, what right did he have to get sick? What right did he have to get sick and make me take care of him for months, not to mention trying to take care of Liz, which wasn't easy. Do you know I failed every single one of my exams that year because I had to take care of him and run the hardware shop and stop Liz from flunking out? I mean actually failed. I never did well in school, but I got 36 % on my English exam. That was the one I did the best on. I only passed because my teachers let me do extra credit work, which I did while I stayed up watching him at night. And what right does he have going and leaving a store to me? I was eighteen. What the hell did I know about actually running a business? Hell, I could barely even figure out how to pass a math test. And how could he make me responsible for Liz? She was sixteen. What did I know about raising sixteen year old girls. Hell, how could he leave me to raise myself? How was I supposed to do that, and make our meals everyday, and pay rent, and go to school, and get to track meets, and go to the Prom with Rachel, all without someone there to help me out. I wasn't supposed to be a parent at 18."  
  
" I know." Lorelai agreed. That kind of responsibility at that age was hard. She definitely knew that. Luke rubbed his hand across his face and rested his head in his hands. " What else is there?" She asked him.  
  
" There's nothing else." But Lorelai knew better, and he knew she did too.  
  
" What else is there Luke."  
  
" He left me alone." Luke sighed.  
  
" You weren't alone." Lorelai rubbed his arm.  
  
" I WAS alone. I was all alone, alone as it gets. My mom left when I was seven. Seven years old and she dies, and all that was left was me and Liz and my dad. And hell, Liz was gone before she even left. All I had was my Dad growing up. And just when I'm about to do something good, when I'm about to really need some help, when I'm really about to go somewhere, he dies. He's gone, Liz is gone, my mom is long gone. Hell, even Rachel left. And I was angry at him. I knew he would have been proud. He was always proud when I ran. It was the one thing I was really good at. So I didn't go. Because I was angry at him."  
  
" Luke..."  
  
" I know it's stupid." He shook his head.  
  
" It's not stupid."  
  
" He would have thought it was stupid."  
  
" You had a right to be angry."  
  
" I was sad." He said, looking defeated.  
  
" You still are."  
  
" HELL, he pisses me off more dead than he ever did alive. At least then I could yell at him." Luke shook his head, and clenched his fist. Lorelai rubbed his arm to get him to relax, and tried to find something better to talk about, something to take his mind off things.  
  
" What was your other dream? What else did you want? Or did you screw that one over too because you were angry?" She asked him softly, trying to make him a little happier. Luke just exhaled a little laugh and nodded sadly.  
  
" Almost, a couple of times."  
  
" What did you want?"  
  
" Stupid stuff. The girl, the kids, the house not about the diner."  
  
" Matching outfits and a minivan."  
  
" My jeans and my truck."  
  
" You're going to have to find someone who's willing to accept your reluctance to change that was caused by the death of your father at a time your life was about to change dramatically."  
  
" That's not why, you analyze everything way too much.........But I guess it is why it didn't work with Rachel."  
  
" She wasn't big on the no change idea." Lorelai agreed, but Luke just shook his head.  
  
" Sure." Lorelai looked at him carefully.  
  
" Unless..."  
  
" Unless what."  
  
" Unless you had already found someone willing to put up with your non- changedness. That's why she left." She said cautiously.  
  
" Leave it alone Lorelai. That horse is dead."  
  
" I swear I just saw it twitch."  
  
" Post mortem nerve impulses."  
  
" I'm guessing biology was the second best exam?" She watched him smile a little bit, and decided to push a little further. "Who is she?"  
  
" I don't want to talk about it right now." Luke wouldn't look at her, just frowned and stared at his palms on the table.  
  
" Okay....... Promise you'll tell me later?" Lorelai tilted her head so that she could see his face. Luke shrugged nonchalantly.  
  
" Yeah."  
  
" Are you going to be okay?" She smiled and put her arm around his slumped shoulders.  
  
" I think I'll take the rest of the night off or something."  
  
" You want company?" Lorelai asked, but Luke just took a deep breath and shook his head.  
  
" I'll be alright." Lorelai smiled at him understandingly and gave him a gentle hug, holding onto him a little longer than usual. Luke put his arms awkwardly around her waist as she rested her head on his shoulder. He pulled away clumsily and she smiled at him again, rubbing his arm gently.  
  
" I'll see you in the morning...... Can you tell me who she is tomorrow?" Luke grinned at her insistence, but shook his head.  
  
" I'll tell you someday."  
  
" Promise?"  
  
" Sure. Go home." Luke grumbled from behind the counter, glancing up at Lorelai as she walked towards the door. Lorelai stopped at the door, looked back at him and grinned.  
  
"You're not alone any more Danes, whether you like it or not."  
  
" Go home."  
  
" You've got you're own little Star's Hollow family started here with me and Ror and Sookie and Jackson and Davey....."  
  
"I though I told you to go home." Luke sighed exasperatedly.  
  
" Me too Luke." Lorelai looked at him and bit her lip. Luke looked up and frowned, then slowly changed to a little smile.  
  
" I'll see you tomorrow." He nodded slowly, furrowing his brows and slipping his hands into his pockets.  
  
" You'll have to tell me." Lorelai teased.  
  
" I'm sure you'll be up all night trying to figure it out." He said sarcastically.  
  
" I have a feeling that I won't be sleeping much. Call me if you're lonely...or you want to talk...or for no reason at all...." Lorelai grinned at him and slipped out of the door. Luke shook his head, but looked at the phone, then up at the clock. She'd be home in five minutes. 


	2. Exotic Jello And Some Europeans

Luke sighed and picked up the receiver, tucking it into his neck as he dialed the number.  
  
" Please don't be home, please don't be home. Just be the answering machine so I can tell myself that I at least tried to do something about this." Luke mumbled to himself.  
  
"Hello?" Lorelai picked up the phone.  
  
"Uh...Hey."  
  
"Hey."  
  
"Hey."  
  
"Hey.....who is this?" Lorelai asked warily.  
  
"Oh....Uh, it's Luke...you said to call if...." He trailed off.  
  
"Oh." Lorelai said, a little surprised.  
  
"I'm sorry. Never mind." Luke mumbled, and was about to hang up.  
  
"No! Luke! Don't be. It's just......you called." Lorelai said in a bemused voice.  
  
"Uh....yeah."  
  
"You called." She insisted, like Luke should be getting from it.  
  
"Did you not want me to call?" He mumbled.  
  
"No! It's just...I didn't think you would actually....call." She sounded confused, but happy.  
  
"Well, I guess I did."  
  
"So, what did you want to talk about?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"You called to talk about nothing?"  
  
"I guess so." Luke shrugged.  
  
"So it's one of those phone calls." Lorelai was smiling knowingly.  
  
"What kind of phone calls?"  
  
"The please-just-talk-to-me-for-a-while-so-that-I-don't-have-to-think-about- what-I'm- thinking-about-for-a-little-while kind of phone call." She nodded.  
  
"No." Luke stubbornly refused.  
  
"It is. Well, what to talk about....Can I ask you questions. Oh! We can play the find out about you game. I'll ask a question and then you can ask a question and then I'll ask a question until one of us is forced to blurt out embarrassing and personal things!" Lorelai said giddily, but Luke frowned,  
  
"This sounds like a bad first date."  
  
"It'll be good one." She interjected.  
  
"I don't want to play."  
  
"What if I ask?" Lorelai suggested.  
  
"I guess."  
  
"No, you answer."  
  
"Lorelai."  
  
"Hey, you called me. Okay. Favourite guilt food."  
  
"Come on."  
  
"Mine's peanut butter on Oreo cookies, dipped in chocolate sauce."  
  
"That's disgusting."  
  
"Ugh...It's amazing. Me and Rory discovered it when she was in fifth grade and she ripped her favourite skirt on the slide at school. Come on Luke."  
  
"Jello."  
  
"You've-always-got-room-for-Bill- Cosby-endorsing Jello?"  
  
"Yeah. I had it when I was in the hospital when I got my tonsils out."  
  
" That's not much guilt. There isn't even any fat in it. What flavour?"  
  
"Lime."  
  
"Exotic." Lorelai could practically hear Luke rolling his eyes. "Alright...... How about favourite sport?"  
  
"You're unusually nice today."  
  
"You were unusually sad."  
  
"Baseball."  
  
"Not running?"  
  
"I don't like to think about that much."  
  
"You should start again."  
  
"I think I might be a little bit old for that."  
  
"It'd be fun!"  
  
"I'd rather not."  
  
"Come on Luke. It's not his fault that he died. He loved you. He probably actually wanted to live to see you run, and get married and have kids. I don't think he really chose to die when you were just a kid."  
  
"I don't think that anyone'll live long enough to see me have kids." Luke gave a little bitter laugh.  
  
"Awww...Don't be so negative Lucas. Some nice woman will come around and pop out your offspring."  
  
"Romantic. Don't call me Lucas."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Lorelai."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because that's what me mom used to call me when I was a kid alright?" Luke sighed.  
  
"Oh.....I'm sorry Luke. Looks like I really know how you push all your repressed and scarring memories buttons tonight." Lorelai said awkwardly.  
  
"It's alright. I just don't like it when you say it because it hurts. And then Taylor does it, and well, I'll be damned if he has the right to have anything to do with the way I remember my mom."  
  
"And I do?"  
  
"You remind me of her." Lorelai smiled at the soft tone in Luke's voice.  
  
"Good, cause if Taylor did I'd be a little worried.....and a little curious." Lorelai became relieved as she heard Luke give a little laugh. "Alright, since we're on names track star, what's with Butch?" Luke sighed.  
  
"It's stupid."  
  
"It's funny."  
  
"My track coach had problems."  
  
"What KIND of problems."  
  
"Writing and remembering."  
  
"This sounds like an interesting story."  
  
"Not really."  
  
"Come oooooon."  
  
"First year of high school, all he could ever remember was that my last name was something about a group of people from a European country."  
  
"Danes? As in people from Denmark?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"What does that have to do with Butch and bad writing?"  
  
"He could never remember Denmark."  
  
"What did he remember?"  
  
"Holland."  
  
"Isn't that vierd?"  
  
"Lorelai."  
  
"So he called you Dutch?"  
  
"For 3 months. Then at the first track meet of the year he wrote my name down, and the D ended up looking like a B so...."  
  
"So you ran as Luke Butch?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Cool."  
  
"No, not cool. All the guys thought it was hilarious, and I got called Butch for the next four years."  
  
"That's funny."  
  
"Not when it's you."  
  
"It is when it's you."  
  
"Not funny."  
  
"A little."  
  
"I hated my track coach."  
  
"Did they yell 'Run Butch run'?"  
  
"Next question please."  
  
"See, you do like this game. And I've got a good one this time." Lorelai smiled mischievously. She heard Luke cough awkwardly and smiled. " Ready?"  
  
"Does it matter."  
  
" No, not really." 


	3. Its the 64000 question Just answer the d...

"Hmmmm. Hey Luke, can you wait a minute? I left the portable under a couch pillow for the last week and the batteries are about to die out on me. I'll switch phones and call you back."  
  
"Sure." Luke hung up the phone and sat on the floor with his head in his hands for a minute, until it rang again.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Steve's Meat Emporium. Your shipment of 6000 burgers is in."  
  
"Hey Lorelai."  
  
"Awwww. How dyou know?"  
  
"Just a wild guess."  
  
"So...the question."  
  
"Shoot."  
  
"Bang."  
  
"Funny. Really."  
  
"I try."  
  
"That's you trying?" Luke scoffed.  
  
"That was mean!" Lorelai whined and Luke laughed quietly.  
  
"So what's your question?" Luke probed, already knowing what it was. He didn't want to answer, but he wanted Lorelai to want to know. He wanted her to ask. He wanted to feel like he finally had a reason, an opportunity to say.....something.  
  
"Who is she?" Luke felt relieved, but at the same time, he knew he couldn't answer.  
  
"Lorelai....I said I'd tell you when I was ready."  
  
"Be ready now. You can't keep me in this suspense." She whined. Come on Luke....say.......something.  
  
"NO." Luke said, even though all he could hear echoing in his head was 'Tell her, tell her now'.  
  
"Tell me!" Lorelai gripped, as thought she could hear what Luke was thinking. Damn it Luke, I said me too when I left. I took my risk.  
  
"NO!"  
  
"Tell me PLEASE?"  
  
"I said no Lorelai! I'm not going to tell you how I feel about y-her until I'm ready okay!? My decision remember?"  
  
"Okay, I'm sorry Luke.............pleaseeeeeeeeee!"  
  
"No Lorelai."  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Fine."  
  
"What if she starts going out with someone else before you tell her." She said in a teasing voice.  
  
"It's happened before." Luke grumbled.  
  
"I bet she'd be sorry she ever did once you told her."  
  
"How do you know that." Luke sighed.  
  
"Cause I know you." Luke's head snapped up as he heard the bell on the door ring.  
  
"Who the hell is coming in here this late at night?" Luke groaned, ready to kill whoever it was.  
  
"Maybe you should have flipped that fancy closed sign of yours over." Luke was about to pull himself up.  
  
"Maybe I- Wait. How do you know I didn't flip my sign over...." Luke looked up and saw Lorelai leaning over the counter at him, with her cell phone attached to her ear.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Hey."  
  
"No cell phones."  
  
"You're going to make me go back outside?" Lorelai pouted, raising her eyebrow at the same time.  
  
"Or since we are about three feet apart we could just talk like normal people, you know, without phones." Luke said sarcastically. Lorelai grinned, turning off her phone and dropping it on the counter. Luke took the receiver out from the crook of his neck and Lorelai walked around the counter, hanging it up for him as he stretched out his stiff shoulder muscles. She slid down next to him.  
  
"So, why'd you come?" Luke asked cautiously. Lorelai looked at him.  
  
"It was my turn for once."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"To be the big strong shoulder."  
  
"I hope you don't expect me to cry."  
  
"Cry, no, lean maybe." Lorelai rubbed her shoulder invitingly. Luke looked hesitant, but leaned over against her and sighed. "Rough day?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You sounded sad on the phone."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"You sounded like you needed another hug."  
  
"I'm fine." Luke mumbled reluctantly, but Lorelai shook her head.  
  
"No big strong man with me today Luke." She wrapped her arms behind his shoulders and around his chest, stroking the back of his neck gently with one hand. Luke leaned against her a little more, so that their heads were touching just a bit. Lorelai smiled and rubbed his side, feeling Luke's breathing speed up a little.  
  
"Maybe a little cry?" She teased.  
  
"I'll be fine." Luke grumbled. He looked down at the hand she had wrapped around his chest, and carefully reached up and wrapped his fingers around hers. He glanced over at Lorelai apprehensively, but she just grinned back at him, and he gave her a little smile. Lorelai leaned over tentatively and kissed him softly on the ear.  
  
"Tomorrow'll be better. I promise."  
  
"You think so?" Luke was turning a little pink, but was smiling.  
  
"Of course. Tomorrow's Danish Day." Lorelai grinned teasingly.  
  
"Thanks. Cause that makes my day so much better." Luke rolled his eyes.  
  
"Hey, I'll be back tomorrow. It'll make your day dazzling." Lorelai teased. " ......... So you think you'll be ready to tell then?" She glanced up at him. Luke looked down as his fingers intertwined with hers, and mumbled something.  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Alright." Lorelai smiled.  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow?"  
  
"You bet Joanie Jett."  
  
"Go get some sleep."  
  
"Fine grumpy pants." Lorelai kissed him again on the cheek and stood back up. " Save me a good danish."  
  
"Night Lorelai."  
  
"Night Luke." Luke stood up with her and his hand lifted above his head and around, unwinding her arm from around him. He gave her fingers tiny squeeze before he let go. Lorelai picked up her phone from the counter and slipped out of the diner. Luke watched her as she wandered slowly down the street towards her house. He pulled one of the chairs down off the table and sat down. She had practically told him that she wanted him to say it was her he had found. The only thing standing in the way now was him. All he had to do was say the word. So why hadn't he just said it. It wasn't exactly complicated. Maybe if it hadn't been such a bad day. But there would always be maybes. One of these days he was just going to have to get past all the maybes and just do it. How hard could it be....Luke took a few quick steps and flipped off the lights for the diner, then turned the sign over and locked the door behind him. 


	4. Nothing say I Love You like matching nyl...

Luke stepped down onto the pavement and started walking towards Lorelai's house. Hell, today was as good a day as any. The streetlights were lighting round patches on the pavement, but there were dark patches between them where you could only see shadows. Luke kicked himself mentally for letting Lorelai walk home alone. Yeah, it was only a few blocks, and yeah, she was a strong independent woman and all that, and yeah, it WAS Stars Hollow, but he still didn't like the idea. He started to speed up a little. But when he stopped thinking about how he'd left Lorelai vulnerable to some insane rapist who was visiting from Hartford he started thinking about where he was going, what he was going to do. He starting walking faster, almost jogging, but not wanting to look stupid. If he was going to do this he had to do it fast, before he lost all his resolve and just turned back or made up some lame excuse. Luke shook his head at himself and started running down the sidewalk. He was out of shape compared to high school, but his running had been mostly natural talent, thankfully. Getting there fast was probably the most important thing now. He didn't really care if he looked stupid now, running down the street at night, because honestly, right now, this was likely the least stupid he was going to feel in the next few minutes. He rounded the corner, only hearing his feet smacking against the pavement and saw her, walking down the middle of the street in a zigzagging pattern, humming to herself. Luke smiled nervously and slowed down to a walk, crossing into the middle of the street. He took a quick breath.  
  
" Ha-......." He tried to start uncomfortably, but cut himself short, frowning and nervous. He swallowed, looking at her back retreating farther down the street. Any second she would be turning up to her porch. Any second now. Any........second.....Holy-Just do it Luke.  
  
" LORELAI!" Lorelai stopped humming and turned around slowly. He could see her frowning, trying to see him in the shadows.  
  
" LUKE? What are you doing?" She looked confused. Luke ran up and stopped, standing right in front of her. " Is everything alright?" She looked worried, running her eyes over him, trying to see if she could find anything wrong with him. He just stood there staring at her, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. " Did you run all the way here." Luke closed his eyes and nodded, taking a deep breath. When he opened them again he looked up at her, breathing deeply through his nose.  
  
" Ask me again." He said, looking her straight in the eyes.  
  
" Ask you....." She looked at him questioningly.  
  
" Ask me again. Your question. Ask me again." For a minute she just stood there speechlessly. Staring at him. Come on Lorelai do it before I lose my nerve.  
  
" Who.........who did you find?" She asked quietly, looking up at him and biting her lip. Luke nodded and started to smile. He was still breathing heavily but he grinned even wider.  
  
" You." He said between breaths. Lorelai grinned back uncontrollably.  
  
" Yeah?" She giggled eagerly. Luke just nodded, feeling really stupid, in a really good way.  
  
" Yeah?"  
  
" I'm happy to be found then." Lorelai teased.  
  
" Yeah?" Lorelai nodded her head up and down slowly, not breaking her eyes away from his.  
  
" Unhunh."  
  
" Good." Luke nodded too and Lorelai agreed.  
  
" Unhunh." They both took a step forward, into the middle of one of the spots of light created by the street lights. Luke reached out tentatively and put his hands on her waist. Lorelai grinned devilishly as she slid them down to her hips, lifting her own hands up to his head.  
  
" Let's just get this out of the way." Luke shivered as she drew her hands slowly up the back of his neck and tugged his hat off. He tightened his arms and she stepped forwards, leaning in against him. Luke looked down at her eyes and glanced at her lips and Lorelai smiled. She tilted her head to the side a little, just as Luke did, bending down a bit. He stopped just short of her, breathing nervously, and Lorelai gave him a tiny little nod. He didn't move for a moment, running his eyes across her face. Luke leaned forward the tiniest bit, breaking the distance between them and kissed her. They stood there silently for a minute, Lorelai's hands teasing the back of his neck as Luke's tightly massaged her back, feeling warm and really, really happy. Luke smiled a bit when he found out that Lorelai's lips tasted kind of like strawberries, not coffee. Lorelai was just grateful she remembered to put on her lip balm right after she left Luke's. When they finally pulled back they were both smiling, leaning their foreheads together for a moment before Lorelai laced her fingers into Luke's hands and leaned back, running the end of her tongue over her lips. Luke was smiling at her and Lorelai giggled.  
  
" Yay!"  
  
" Good?" Luke asked gruffly.  
  
" You've been holding out on me." Lorelai teased him, cocking her head to the side and running her hand down the side of his face.  
  
" Sorry." Luke mumbled.  
  
" You'll have to make it up to me." Luke grinned sheepishly.  
  
" Yeah?"  
  
" Unhunh." Lorelai nodded, running her finger from where it rested on his jaw down along his chest.  
  
" I can probably handle that." Luke nodded nonchalantly, but his eyes were glowing a little bit.  
  
" Good....." Lorelai bit her lip and looked up at him bemusedly. " Hey Luke?"  
  
" Yeah?"  
  
" You unreasonably freakishly happy right now too?" Luke laughed and nodded.  
  
" Yeah."  
  
"Good." Lorelai grinned widely at him, giggling crazily as Luke held onto her hand. She swung it back and forth for a moment, then let go and twirled around in circles.  
  
" Catch me if I jump Luke?" She yelled, swinging around the lamppost.  
  
" Probably not." He shrugged and she pretended to look hurt.  
  
" Luke!"  
  
" Maybe." He shrugged again.  
  
" Softy." She wandered back over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, running her toe along the back of his leg. " Catch please?" Luke sighed and rolled his eyes, but he caught the back of her thighs as she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist, twisting her feet together behind his back. She bit her lip as she leaned her forehead against his and Luke lifted up his chin as they kissed again. When they broke apart Luke kissed her gently on the forehead.  
  
" I'm glad I changed my mind."  
  
" About the running?" Lorelai said sarcastically, teasing him. Luke furrowed his brows and nodded seriously.  
  
" Yeah. I really want to get back in shape. Now we can buy matching jogging suits and go out jogging in the morning."  
  
"You had better be joking."  
  
" I am. Just so you know, if I ever follow up on that, don't hesitate to shoot me."  
  
" But why? I need you around even more now."  
  
" The day I buy matching jogging suits is the day I go certifiably nuts."  
  
" So they've been in your closet a while then?" Lorelai teased.  
  
" You're hilarious."  
  
" I try."  
  
" You don't succeed. Come on. Hop down. Let's get you home." Lorelai pouted and tightened her legs.  
  
" Carry me?"  
  
" Get down."  
  
" Pleaaaase?"  
  
" I'll drop you."  
  
" No you won't." Lorelai grinned." You like me too much to break my butt."  
  
" Down." Lorelai scowled playfully then leaned forwards and kissed him again, biting gently on his lower lip. As she pulled slowly away Luke sighed reluctantly.  
  
" Fine."  
  
" Yeah!" Lorelai lifted her hands up a little in celebration. " I win!" Luke started walking awkwardly down the street. Lorelai smiled and laid her head down against his shoulder. He glanced over at her and smiled reluctantly.  
  
" You're going to use this to win all our arguments now aren't you?"  
  
" Unhunh." Lorelai nodded.  
  
" I' m screwed aren't I."  
  
" Yup."  
  
" Just so I know." Luke sighed, not really that upset.  
  
" And Luke?"  
  
" Yeah?" Lorelai leaned forward and whispered breathily into his ear.  
  
" Dirty." Luke rolled his eyes and reached down to open the front door awkwardly, readjusting his other arm around her. 


End file.
